Performance assessment of hybrid multiblock copolymers included with ionic liquid for fuel cell applications

To improve the proton conductivity and thermal stability of proton exchange membrane, hybrid poly (arylene ether) multiblock copolymers were synthesized by using 6F-bisphenol A monomer. The hydrophobic oligomers poly (arylene ether sulfone) containing 6F-bisphenol A with varying molecular weight were copolymerised with hydrophilic oligomer disulfonated poly (arylene ether ketone) containing pendant carboxylic acid group to prepare multiblock copolymers. For further enhancing the proton conductivity, ionic liquid is embedded into the synthesized multiblock copolymers to fabricate the hybrid multiblock membranes. The ¹H NMR studies confirmed the synthesis of oligomers and multiblock copolymers whereas the FT-IR spectra revealed the interaction of ionic liquid with the multiblock copolymers. The proton conductivity of the membranes has also been examined at different temperatures and the activation energy required for the proton transport was calculated by using Arrhenius equation. At 30 °C, the maximum proton conductivity of 0.14 S/cm were shown by hybrid membrane (with 50% ionic liquid, 6FB1/I.L-50%), which is of 3.5 times greater than that of pristine 6FB1 membrane. Compared with pristine membranes, the hybrid membranes exhibit improved oxidative, thermal and mechanical stability. Moreover, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigation depicts better phase separation in hybrid membranes than pristine membranes by forming ionic clusters. The membranes have been tested in H₂/O₂ fuel cell and their performance is compared with the state-of-art Nafion 117 membrane.     

An expeditious and convergent synthesis of ailanthoidol

An expeditious and concise method has been described for the synthesis of ailanthoidol through convergent route starting from vanillin. The protocol involving intramolecular Wittig as a key reaction afforded ailanthoidol in overall high yield.     

AgNO3 catalyzed synthesis of 5-substituted-1H-tetrazole via [3+2] cycloaddition of nitriles and sodium azide

An efficient one-pot, convenient catalysis for the synthesis of 5-substituted-1H-tetrazoles is reported. The [3+2] cycloaddition involves various nitriles, sodium azide in refluxing DMF and AgNO₃ as catalyst to give corresponding 5-substituted-1H-tetrazoles in good to excellent yields. It is expected that the reaction proceeds via in situ formation of a silver azide species, which participates in coordination of nitrile moiety followed by cycloaddition of azide ion to give tetrazole.     

1-Naphthyl- and mesityltellurium(IV, II) derivatives of small bite chelating organic ligands: Effect of steric bulk and intramolecular secondary bonding interaction on molecular geometry and supramolecular association

The synthesis and characterization of unsymmetric diorganotellurium compounds containing a sterically demanding 1-naphthyl or mesityl ligand and a small bite chelating organic ligand capable of 1,4-Te?N(O) intramolecular interaction is described. The reaction of ArTeCl₃ (Ar = 1-C₁₀H₇, Np; 2,4,6-Me₃C₆H₂, Mes) with (SB)HgCl [SB = the Schiff base, 2-(4,4′-NO₂C₆H₄CHNC₆H₃-Me)] or a methyl ketone (RCOCH₃) afforded the corresponding dichlorides (SB)ArTeCl₂ (Ar = Np, 1Aa; Mes, 1Ba) or (RCOCH₂)ArTeCl₂ (Ar = Np; R = Ph (2Aa), Me (3Aa), Np (4Aa); Ar = Mes, R = Ph (2Ba)). Reduction of 1Aa and 1Ba by Na₂S₂O₅ readily gave the tellurides (SB)ArTe (Ar = Np (1A), Mes, (1B)) but that of dichlorides derived from methylketones was complicated due to partial decomposition to tellurium powder and diarylditelluride (Ar₂Te₂), resulting in poor yields of the corresponding tellurides 2A, 2B and 3A. Oxidation of the isolated tellurides with SO₂Cl₂, Br₂ and I₂ yielded the corresponding dihalides. All the synthesized compounds have been characterized with the help of IR, ¹H, ¹³C, and ¹²⁵Te NMR and in the case of 2Aa, and 2Ba by X-ray crystallography. Appearance of only one ¹²⁵Te signal indicated that the unsymmetric derivatives were stable to disproportionation to symmetric species. Intramolecular 1,4-Te?O secondary bonding interactions (SBIs) are exhibited in the crystal structures of both the tellurium(IV) dichlorides, 2Aa, and 2Ba. Steric repulsion of the mesityl group in the latter dominates over lone pair-bond pair repulsion, resulting in significant widening of the equatorial C-Te-C angle. This appears to be responsible for the lack of Te?Cl involved supramolecular associations in the crystal structure of 2Ba.     

Rapid In Vitro Production of Cloned Plants of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Uraria picta</Emphasis> (Jacq.) DC—A Rare Medicinal Herb in Long-Term Culture

An efficient in vitro process for rapid production of cloned plants of Uraria picta has been developed employing nodal stem segments taken from field-grown plants. Explants showed bud-break followed by regeneration of shoots with restricted growth within 12 days on modified Murashige and Skoog’s medium supplemented with 0.25 mg l^–1 each of 6-benzylaminopurine and indole-3-acetic acid and 25 mg l^-1 adenine sulfate. Normal growth of shoots with good proliferation rate was achieved by reducing the concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine and indole-3-acetic acid to 0.1 mg l^-1 each and incorporating 0.5 mg l^-1 gibberellic acid in the medium in which, on an average, 19.6 shoots per explant were produced. Further, during successive subcultures, increased concentrations of adenine sulfate (50 mg l^-l) and gibberellic acid (2 mg l^-l) along with the addition of 20 mg l^-l  dl-tryptophan were found conducive to control the problem of necrosis of shoots. In this treatment, several “crops” of shoots were obtained from single culture by repeated subculturing of basal portion of stalk in long-term. Isolated shoots rooted 100% in 0.25 mg l^-1 indole-3-butyric acid. In vitro-raised plants after hardening in inorganic salt solution grew normally in soil and came to flowering. Genetic fidelity of in vitro-raised plants was ascertained by rapid amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Also, quantitative estimation of two isoflavonones in their root extracts further confirmed true-to-type nature of plantlets.     

Conjugate polymer-based membranes for gas separation applications: current status and future prospects

Conjugate polymers provide the possibility of exploiting both the chemical and physical attributes of the polymers for membrane-based gas separation. The presence of delocalized π electrons provides high chain stiffness with low packing density, thus making the membrane a rigid structure that favors facilitated transport. Historically, the polymeric membranes were constrained by the tradeoff relationship between gas permeability and gas selectivity. So, different methods were investigated to prepare the membranes that can overcome the limitation. In recent years, electroconductive polymeric membranes have gained attention with their enhanced transportation properties combining the separation behavior depending on both molecular size discrimination as well as the facilitated transport. They offer better selectivity toward polar gases such as CO₂ because of the increased solubility. This review is aimed to provide a literature survey on gas separation using conjugate polymers such as polyaniline, polypyrrole, and some derivatives of polythiophenes. It contains various methods used by different researchers to enhance the gas separation properties of the membranes with improved mechanical and thermal stability such as changing the morphology and membrane preparation methods. In addition, it provides the pros and cons of various factors affecting the conjugate polymer membrane performance. The major challenges and future work that can be done in improving the transportation properties through the membrane to achieve viable membranes are also discussed so that they can be used for commercial and practical applications in the future.     

Supramolecular Control on the Optical Properties of a Dye-Polyelectrolyte Assembly

Control of fluorescent molecular assemblies is an exciting area of research with large potential for various important applications, such as, fluorescence sensing/probing, cell imaging and monitoring drug-delivery. In the present contribution, we have demonstrated control on the extent of aggregation of a dye-polyelectrolyte assembly using a macrocyclic host molecule, sulfobutylether-β-cyclodextrin (SBE-β-CD). Initially, a cationic molecular rotor based organic dye, Auramine-O (AuO), undergoes aggregation in the presence of an anionic polyelectrolyte, polystyrene sulfonate (PSS), and displays a broad intense new emission band along with large variation in its absorption features and excited-state lifetime. A manipulation of the monomer-aggregate equilibrium of the dye-polyelectrolyte assembly has been achieved by introducing a cyclodextrin based supramolecular host, SBE-β-CD, which leads to relocation of AuO molecules from polyelectrolyte (PSS) to supramolecular host cavity, owing to the formation of a host-guest complex between AuO and SBE-β-CD. A reversible control on this manipulation of monomer-aggregate equilibrium is further achieved by introducing a competitive guest for the host cavity i. e., 1-Adamantanol. Thus, we have demonstrated an interesting control on the dye-polyelectrolyte aggregate assembly using a supramolecular host molecule which open up exciting possibilities to construct responsive materials using a repertoire of various host-specific guest molecules.     

Viscous corrections for the viscous potential flow analysis of magnetohydrodynamic Kelvin-Helmholtz instability with heat and mass transfer

A ??E-E telescope exploiting a single silicon chip for both ??E measurement and scintillation light collection has been tested. It is a Si - CsI (Tl) telescope tailored for mass identification of light charged particles and intermediate mass fragments. A procedure based on two different shaping filters allows for extraction of the ??E-E information from the single silicon signal. The quality of the obtained fragment identification is expressed in terms of a figure of merit and compared to that of a standard ??E-E telescope. The presented configuration could be a good candidate for the basic cell of a large solid angle array of ??E-E telescopes, given the reduction in complexity and cost of the front-end electronics.     

Palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions between dihydropyranylindium reagents and aryl halides. synthesis of C-aryl glycals

[reaction: see text] Palladium(0)-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions between tris(dihydropyranyl)indium 1 and aryl halides 2 have been investigated. Aryl iodides and electron-deficient aryl bromides couple efficiently with the in situ-generated indium reagents in the presence of 1-5 mol % Cl(2)Pd(PPh(3))(2) to produce substituted dihydropyrans 3 with minimal (<10%) dimer (4) formation. Organoindium reagents derived from D-glucal also undergo cross couplings with aryl iodides to produce C-aryl glycals.     

Estimation of the Surface Tensions of Benzonitrile, Chlorobenzene, Benzyl Chloride and Benzyl Alcohol in Mixtures with Benzene by Associated and Non-associated Processes at 298.15, 303.15 and 313.15 K

Densities and surface tensions were measured for the binary liquid mixtures formed by benzonitrile, chlorobenzene, benzyl chloride and benzyl alcohol with benzene, at 298.15, 303.15 and 313.15 K and atmospheric pressure, over the whole composition range. The Prigogine?CFlory?CPatterson model (PFP), the Ramaswamy and Anbananthan (RS) model, the model derived by Glinski, the Sanchez equation, the Goldsack relation and Eberhart??s model were used to predict the associational behavior of weakly interacting liquids. The measured properties were fitted to the Redlich?CKister polynomial equation to estimate the binary coefficients and standard errors. Furthermore, the McAllister multi-body interaction model was also used to correlate the binary solution properties. These non-associated and associated models were compared and tested for different systems, showing that considering the association processes yields better agreement between theory and experiment as compared to non-associated processes.